With the actions of a depraved and disturbed individual in Oregon last week once again we are subjected to the drum beat of both sides of the gun control issue and once again it is the zealots and fringe elements on both ends of the argument that seem to be heard the loudest. Most people are disgusted by the actions of this demented individual and would love to see a ‘solution’ that prevents this from occurring again. But the loony far left is out in force demanding something be done immediately and the ‘solution de jour’ is anything from an outright ban on firearms to various less extreme measures. And sadly we have an administration that is following in those most telling words of one Rahm Immanuel in wanting to not allow this tragedy to ‘go to waste’. As such we have a poor excuse for a president who immediately addressed the nation while the most basic of information was still being uncovered and proudly announced this tragedy should be ‘politicized’.

But I have a real issue with this entire process as it flies in the face of a thoughtful, measured reflection upon the situation with a focus on a civilized, non-spun dialog regarding what is without question a very complex issue. The left wants to immediately jump while the horror and pain is still fresh so they can push their restrictive agenda on the nation. Shame on them for both politicizing this tragedy and for being willing to ignore reason and common sense regarding making rash decisions! I can find very few examples when rash decisions have worked out well for any involved; indeed, in general the wisdom of humanity is that one wait a bit after something traumatic or emotional before beginning to assess the situation. If in doubt just ask anyone who, in a fit of anger or passion, has written a volatile email or tweet and sent it out. I’d wager 99.9%, after they have taken some time to cool off, would wish they could take it back! Is this the kind of decision process we really want to drive our attempts to formulate a resolution to this issue?

In an attempt to make the lame-stream media’s ‘news’ cycle some candidates have already offered up ‘solutions’ which, when examined with just a bit of objectivity, show just how ill-considered they truly are. Hillary Clinton would lift the ban against prosecuting firearm manufacturers when a tragedy of this type occurs. What an idiotic notion; only a lawyer could’ve formulated such a dim-witted concept!! Just think what opening this door portends: will we next be suing car manufacturers when someone is involved in a fatal crash? Maybe we could sue the manufacturers of cell phones if a fatal accident occurred while someone involved was using such a device? Just what we need; more lawsuits to further choke our legal system and more trial lawyers!

Rather than look at personal responsibility these people would instead burden the maker of a product to somehow insure it is used within a specific range of guidelines? This country has lost sight of personal responsibility especially as it applies to living within a societal construct. And herein is what I believe is at the crux of not just the gun control issue but so many other problems we face as a nation: we no longer hold people accountable for their actions. We have seen this slowly developing miasma for decades; criminals now get better treatment than their victims because they had ‘a tough life’ or were abused by someone of ‘the system’. Entire generations are being raised to believe they are somehow ‘special’ and they are prevented from experiencing and understanding how defeat feels and why violence never resolves civil disputes. In addition they are never forced to test their limits and thus are clueless regarding their abilities and their strengths and weaknesses. Our justice system is now subject to the amount of money one can throw at it; in other words, one gets the amount of justice one can afford. The ‘rights’ of a minuscule number of people can adversely affect the rights of millions. All these issues have been promoted by the far left and the current administration demonstrates these beliefs in spades!

I could continue on but I believe I’ve made my point; without championing and exhibiting personal responsibility from a very young age and reinforcing it in day to day living we can hardly expect society’s members to display this most needed characteristic. This is so apparent in the incredible amount of fraud that exists across American society today; so many people who do not have what they feel they deserve have no problem committing fraud and taking what they do not deserve. In an even meaner sense many of these people have no compunction stealing other people’s property; after all, they feel they deserve it so why not..?

Until such time as our culture decides that we must return to some basic values like those of taking responsibility for one’s actions and embracing and practicing ‘the Golden Rule’ we will continue to see these kinds of issues and, indeed, they will become more and more prevalent. There is nothing particularly complex about making this happen; we don’t need Congress to mandate a law or form committees and study the issues for decades let alone give up more of our rapidly disappearing personal freedoms. We only need start teaching our children the wisdom and value of the Golden Rule and taking personal responsibility for one’s action. But teaching alone is not enough; we all must model these fundamentals in our everyday life! And we must realize that to do so requires we often deal with tough choices and we accept doing this will often not ‘feel’ good. Yet if we refrain from this path then we are all, in some way, responsible for the sad and frightening actions we now so lament…